Columbarium – Part 3: How to Pay for a Columbarium

Posted on February 18, 2020 Written by

Here are two ways to build and fund a columbarium that I used.

  • The columbarium was built in phases due to the construction costs. Phase I cost $60,000. The pastor asked three families to each give $20,000 in exchange for a tax-deductible contribution and a double niche. All three families gave the money and we built it a few months later. As people purchased niches, that money would pay for the next phase until all phases were constructed. Sales from the sales phase would then become the source of the perpetual maintenance fund.
  • The columbarium was built all at once for a cost of $225,000. Solicited donations and sales of niches generated about $75,000 initially. The church was fortunate to have over $150,000 of reserves. In lieu of borrowing money from a bank, the church loaned itself the money and then as niches were purchased, the loan declined. At some point, the loan was paid off and then all subsequent money was used for the perpetual maintenance fund.

In all cases, handling the money for a columbarium requires careful record-keeping to ensure you know which niches or plots have been sold to whom. You need to keep copies of the agreement you have with each family, know where their money has been placed, and then have easy access to it when the time comes to inurn or inter a loved one for any expenses (engraving, buying urns, etc.).

Lead On!

Steve

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Columbarium – Part 2: Funeral Costs and a Columbarium Niche Sales

Posted on February 11, 2020 Written by

Cremation is the safest and cheapest way to bury a person. A casket funeral can cost upwards of $15,000 (for the casket, the funeral home, the lot and concrete vault, etc.). That is money that is literally poured into a hole in the ground. Inurning (in a niche) or interring (in the ground) cremains can cost several thousand but it can also be done literally free.

  • For a few thousand dollars: the body can be cremated, placed in an urn, and then in a plot in the ground.
  • For free: the body can be donated to a med school which will cremate it; when they’re finished, they’ll return the ashes to the family who can then scatter the cremains

The cremains are placed in the columbarium in one of three ways:

  • In an urn which is set into a niche
  • Buried in the ground
    • In an urn (usually biodegradable) which is set into the ground and covered with dirt and grass, or
    • In a hole in the ground which is covered with dirt and grass
  • Scattered on the ground and grass

I built a columbarium at one church where we set aside a section of the wall for plaques of people whose ashes were scattered or interred elsewhere. One teen’s ashes were scattered at the beach while another member’s ashes were placed at Arlington National Cemetery near DC. In each case, the family wanted some remembrance of their loved one at the church and we were able to meet that need.

For each of these, we had different pricing levels. We sold niches for singles and spouses (kiddingly referred to as “double-wides”). We sold plaques to memorialize people whose ashes were elsewhere. We also sold interments (placing the ashes in the ground). In all instances, we standardized the wording format on the niche plates and plaques to ensure uniformity. We also sold the urns to be sure they fit inside the niche. I did encourage people with niches to personalize the urns and/or to place personal effects in the niche such as a picture or word tribute (both laminated). Some families did this as part of their communal grieving process.

The columbarium is a part of the family’s grieving and healing. That garden is a place of solace and remembrance.

Lead On!

Steve

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Columbarium – Part 1: What is It and Why?

Posted on February 4, 2020 Written by

A columbarium is a place where the cremated remains of a person are kept. It comes from the Latin word for dove (columba) because doves build their nests in niches in a wall and cremains are frequently placed in niches.

Burning a body has been a human tradition for millennia because of their health hazards of a decomposing body. Cremated remains are completely safe to handle. Early Christians, who were within one generation of Jesus, were cremated. The catacombs of Rome have thousands of niches where urns with cremains (both Christian and non-Christian) were placed.

Churches have always been a favorite place for putting the dead. In America with its large open spaces, graveyards are common. In Europe, bodies are stacked in mausoleums or cremated. In other parts of the world where space is scare, cremation is the standard. Increasingly, people in the US want to be cremated; they don’t want their bodies taking up space forever.

This presents an option for churches in urban and suburban settings. They can convert one of the church’s gardens or patios into a columbarium. The purposes are several:

  • It keeps generations of the family attached to the church and visiting their deceased loved ones at the church
  • It provides a revenue stream if done properly. The revenues can pay for the perpetual maintenance of this part of the church grounds.
  • It tells the current members that the church honors the lives of the saints by giving them an eternal location.

When the subject of a columbarium comes up, do some research and consider having one. I’ve built two columbaria and each church has loved having it.

Lead On!

Steve

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Free Stuff

Posted on January 28, 2020 Written by

www.churchbestpractices.org is now entirely FREE.

This is a website where I have posted scores of free documents, manuals, spreadsheets, etc. Over the 25 plus years that I’ve been a church administrator, I’ve created docs at all the churches I’ve worked at and now I’m sharing all those for free.

If you need a doc that isn’t in there, please let me know and I’ve probably got something I can get you or create pretty easily. Let me know via email.

In the meantime, download some or all of these documents. My request is this: if you find that these are really helpful to you, then please buy a gift card at the website ($25, $50, or $100) for however much you think it helped you. Donations such as these help me stay afloat financially.

Thanks!

Lead On!

Steve

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Your Money is Waiting

Posted on January 21, 2020 Written by

When a vendor is overpaid, they are legally required to return it. Sometimes vendors can’t (or can’t be troubled) find the person or company that paid too much. In those cases, they send it to the unclaimed property division that each state treasurer has. The state treasurer holds on to the money until the rightful owner claims it. Texas alone has over $3 billion it is holding till it is claimed.

The process is quite simple. Enter “unclaimed property” followed by your state. Then, go to the state’s page and follow the instructions to search for the property. If you find something that you think is yours (either personal or your church), then complete the forms and send them to the state agency that handles these claims. It will take about four to six weeks to get your money.

If anyone contacts you saying they can get money for you for a fee, ignore them. They may have searched the web and found some money for you but you can do the same thing and it won’t cost you anything. Don’t fall for scams.

It’s your money and it’s just waiting there for you. Go get it.

Lead On!

Steve

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Employer or Contractor?

Posted on January 14, 2020 Written by

This question comes up way too often. Churches want to classify people as contractors when they are really employees. I understand that it is a pain to get all the tax forms, set them up in the payroll system, and have the extra FICA expense. But there is not legal way around this.

A church contacted me about hiring an intern for a few weeks. The pastor thought it would be easy – bring the young man on board, pay him a flat fee for his work, and then he’d leave. Unfortunately, pastors and other church leaders do not fully comprehend personnel law and they can get the church in trouble.

Here is the IRS page addressing this.

Here is the page from the Department of Labor.

Each of them have lots of information and linked pages. Here is the key info from the IRS website:

  • The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work, not what will be done and how it will be done. Small businesses should consider all evidence of the degree of control and independence in the employer/worker relationship. Whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee depends on the facts in each situation.

The key issue is control. Does the employer control when, where, how, with what, why, etc. a person is doing their work? That is an employer/employee relationship. Or, does the employer give instructions as to what is needed and then receives a completed product at a future date? That is an employer/contractor relationship. For example: a church bookkeeper with an office in the church using church computer is an employee while the church’s auditor is a contractor.

There are some nuances to churches in particular.

  • Guest preachers or speakers are considered to be independent contractors because they created their content and the church didn’t dictate what they would say. That is also true for musicians who perform their own original music.
  • Musicians who play or sing pieces that others wrote and which the church asked them to play or sing are considered church employees. That is because the church controlled the time, place, instrument, and choice of music. The American Guild of Organists has an article explaining to their members that in most cases church organists (and paid choir members) are employees.

My request is for churches to be completely honest and aboveboard. Classify people as employees when in doubt. You’ll be able to sleep at night better.

Lead On!

Steve

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Wills for New Families

Posted on January 7, 2020 Written by

Having a child is a major legal decision.

Most churches are great at helping new parents with new baby stuff: food for mom & dad, baby showers with gifts, support for mom (and dad) in the first few months, etc. Churches need to add a legal issue to this checklist – providing a resource for a will. There are a host of legal matters to decide when a child arrives. If both parents die, how is the estate divided, who is the custodian of the child(ren), should there be a trust, etc.

Almost half of all people do not have a will of any form. When they die, a judge will divide the estate among a prescribed list of family members. None of the money will go to friends or organizations they loved in their lifetime. When young parents die, the state will use all of the family’s funds to care for the children and will place the children with the family the judge feels is best.

Rather than leave it to a judge, young families should make those (uncomfortable) decisions themselves. Their church should have an attorney who will work with the couple before the baby arrives and draft a simple will. That will give the new parents a lot of peace of mind and the grandparents will greatly appreciate having that issue dealt with. Most young people have no idea where to go to get a will.

A church can cover the entire cost of a simple will (about $400 to $500), can cost-share with the young couple (or the grandparents), or have the couple cover that cost entirely. I can assure you that if grandparents are financially able, they’ll help with this cost and they’ll be exceedingly grateful to the church for helping with this. The important thing is to ensure that young families are addressing this issue and not ignoring it. This is an important legal matter and the church should help.

Lead On!

Steve

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www.financeforchurches.org – 400 plus blogs on every church administration topic you can think of

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Anniversary Gift

Posted on December 31, 2019 Written by

R & C’s 50th wedding anniversary was approaching and R asked me about making a gift to the church in honor of their anniversary. C loved the children’s music ministry and had volunteered there for decades. R asked if he give the church $50,000 for their 50th anniversary and create a named fund to benefit children’s music. I told him I was pretty sure we could and after checking with the committee, it was authorized.

C was ecstatic. She said it was the best gift she could have ever received. Over the next several years, R gave more and at last count, the fund was close to $500,000 which is enough to fund the programming budget and part of the salary. R & C continue to worship there 10 years on and are very happy with their decision to fund this ministry of the church.

The agreement that R signed with the church contained the following phrase: “If the original purpose of the gift is no longer a ministry of the church, then the Endowment Team may distribute grants to similar purposes or, if those don’t exist, to other ministries of the church as requested.” This ensures that should the children’s music ministry no longer be part of the church’s strategy, the church can use this gift as it wants and needs without consulting the donor. This phrase should be included in all donor agreements.

Lead On!

Steve

www.churchbestpractices.org – all kinds of FREE church manuals and sample documents
www.financeforchurches.org – 400 plus blogs on every church administration topic you can think of

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